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Saturday, November 5, 2016

How Our Students Presented Library Innovation Spaces

I'm very excited to have Kaitlyn Price (@Kait_Price11), LHS Teacher Librarian, join me in this article about our recent adventures. We will share how our journey helped us learn that there are students in the library (and everywhere else in the school) that are just waiting to have to have their voices heard. These events truly changed our thinking.

Dawson Education Cooperative Visit (Stony)

We had an opportunity to host a training for teacher librarians in our area through the Dawson Education Cooperative. We were asked to show our newly renovated library facility, teach Breakout EDU, and show our innovation spaces. The schedule was as follows:

9:00 Welcome, introductions, and library tour

9:30 Breakout EDU puzzles

10:30-10:40 Break

10:45 Breakout EDU Discussion and Breakout EDU Digital

11:00 Skype, Mystery Skype, and Skype Translator

11:30 Makerspace resources

11:55 Students share Makerspace projects

12:15-12:50 Lunch in the library and debrief

12:55-1:20 Students share Minecraft EDU and Coding

1:30 Wrap up and depart

The librarians seemed to really enjoy navigating through our Breakout EDU puzzles. Most of them had no prior experience with the activity. There were approximately 40 attendees. We decided to set up 2 boxes in each of our two large library facilities, and we divided everyone into four groups. It took participants about an hour to complete the session.

Following this, we shared about how we are using Skype and Mystery Skype to connect our learners. In addition, we demonstrated Skype Translator through a video of a previous connection with my educator friend (and MIEExpert) in Spain, Angels Soriano.

A Powerful Minecraft Presentation (Stony)

After these sessions, Kaitlyn presented about our many new makerspace resources. Kaitlyn invited one of our sophomore students, Krystyna, to present about Minecraft. I was very inspired by the excitement that Krystyna projected while she was presenting. Everyone was very interested in her demonstration and description of Minecraft.

Following the presentation, the group discussed the events of the day and departed. Afterward, Kaitlyn and I decided to give our learners more of a voice in another upcoming presentation. We had already been contacted by the South Central Service Cooperative about a library visit and similar sessions.

South Central Service Cooperative Visit (Kaitlyn)

Throughout the week, I spoke with students about the possibility of presenting makerspace items to our visitors. The students were thrilled. As the day approached, there were 10 students preparing their skill (and nerves) to present to the South Central Cooperative. The students would be presenting things such as Spheros, many types of robots, Google cardboard, 3d printing, SketchUp, Minecraft, and jewelry making. There were 10 attendees total made up of library media specialists and employees of the cooperative.

Students Take the Mic (Kaitlyn)

The students took turns presenting their material. Krystyna presented first. She is a 10th grade student that loves all things robotics. She demonstrated how the Ozobots and Robotics Smart Machines work. Krystyna had spent a lot of time working with and coding these robots. These two things are part of our school Makerspace. Krystyna also brought some things of her own. She brought a Meccano Meccanoid robot, a Mip, and Google cardboards. Krystyna allowed our guests to take turns using each item after her presentation.

Next to present was a junior, Rayne. She designs, creates, and sells her own jewelry. Our guests were impressed with how intricate Rayne’s designs were. A lot of time goes into the making of these pieces. She began explaining that she was not yet allowed to have a job so she does this in order to have some spending money. Our guests were impressed with her entrepreneurship. Rayne was not aiming to make sells on this day, but before she knew it, they were making purchases and sharing on social media about her art.

After those two presentations, it was time for our lunch. We sat together and had nice conversations about the importance of student voice and empowerment. We discussed why the students presenting this material was more powerful than if I had presented it.

First, we had a group of 4 boys made up of sophomores and juniors. These 4 boys are in EAST class and are advanced when it comes to 3D printing. They presented on the possibility of scanning items using ScanIt and then printing a model of that item in 3D. Our guests were very impressed with them and asked many questions. These same boys have since presented the same information to our 8th and 9th grade students.

An 8th grade student, Ryane also presented another 3D printing program, SketchUp. With SketchUp, the operator can design and create their own image to print in 3D.

Jarod and Shawn took the mic next. They confidently showed Minecraft and discussed all of the classroom possibilities. They spoke about how Minecraft could be tied to the curriculum and gave examples for each subject area.

To finish up, another 8th grade student, Dawson demonstrated how to use a Sphero. Dawson took the initiative to form a Sphero club, and all members meet 3 days a week at lunch in the library makerspace area. Many of our guests already had Spheros but had yet to use them.

Future Possibilities

After experiencing these student successes, Kaitlyn and I want to provide more opportunities in the library for our learners to share. I want to thank our friends Tonia MacMillan (Dawson Education Cooperative) and Anna Warriner (South Central Service Cooperative) for reaching out to visit. The visiting teams of educators inspired our students and changed us forever! We are already working on several new ideas that include student voice, and we will write about these soon. It's time we all find ways to help students have their voices heard.

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